Copyholder



1940 B. E. VAN ALSTYNE COPYI-{OLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' Filed April 8, 1940 I B IVE N TO R [@NA/JSTYNE ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 26, 1940 arren STATES PATENT orrics 6 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in a copyholder, and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangements hereinafter described and claimed. 7

This invention is a continuation in part of my patent application on a Line indicator, Serial No. 230,844, filed September 20, 1938, and issued April 16, 1940, as Patent No, 2,197,164. In the patent, I show a novel paper clamping mechanism, which forms the subject matter of the present case.

The clamps provide positive means for gripping a paper and they are disposed adjacent to the line indicator guide for permitting the guide to be arranged near the edge of a paper, or page 125 of a book, to which it is attached. The device may be attached to a sidewise opening book, or to a notebook.

One of the novel features of the invention, which is not shown in my patent, is the use of vacuum cups that permit the device to be anchored to a supporting surface, and therefore to hold the page or book from slipping around over the surface. The cups perform an additional function of acting as elevating means for one side of the page being copied, thus permitting the page to incline downwardly toward the person doing the copying at a proper angle for reading.

The clamps cooperate with a page supporter that will cause the page of a sidewise opening book to lie flat. This is especially advantageous where the page curves into the binding of the book, because the page supporter will flatten out the curve. The page is not only flattened, but it is held at the desired copying angle by the cups.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this application, in which:

Figure l is a plan view of the device shown operatively applied to a page of a sidewlse opening book;

Figure 2 an end elevation of Figure 1;

Figure 3 an end view of the device shown applied to a note book and illustrating the manner in which the book is inclined by the vacuum cups and is secured to the supporting surface;

Figure 4 a horizontal section of the device shown on a larger scale;

Figure 5 a longitudinal section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 a transverse section taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 4. I

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modifications may be made withinthe scope-of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a supporting member I that carries a guide bar 2, the latter being. hollow. Figure 1 shows how the support and guide bar may be constructed from a single piece of material. The guide bar has recesses 3 therein for receiving spring clamps 4. The clamps have enlarged portions 5 received in the guide bar 2. These enlarged portions 5 15 have shoulders 5a bearing against the side 2a of the guide bar and also have tongues 51) receivable in slots 6 in the side 2b. A tongue 1 is bent upwardly and bears against an oiT-set portion 8 on a rod 9 for holding the rod against the side 2a. A leaf spring Ill normally holds the clip l up against the rod 9 and this will keep the clamp in open position, see Figure 6. The clamps-4 have their ends curved upwardly to move more readily and receive the page.

The rod 9 constitutes means for swinging the clamps into gripping relation with respectvto the support I. One end of the rod is bent. at right angles. to form a handle 9a and the handle extends through a slot II in the guide bar 2. 'The 30 rodz9 is held against the side wall 2a by the tongues l and against the top wall bythe clamps d, which in turn are supported by the springs ll]. The oifset portions --8 also are normally :heldin contactwith the top wall of the guide :bar. Fig- 0 ure 4 shows the normal position of the oif-set portions 8 and the clamps 4. i V

A swinging of the handle,9a through anar'c of .will cause the rod tobear against the 'top wall of the guide 2 and will cause the oil-set portions 8 to swing away from the top-wall and move the free ends of the clamps 4 against the support I. The clamps fulcrum about their tongues 52) during this movement. The springs It will ,becompressed when the arm 9a is swung beyond dead center and will remain-in this position until released. The springs 10 will return the clamps 4 to'openpo-sition as .soon as the arm 9a. is again swung. into parallel relation with-respect to the support I. 50

The slot ll extends into-thetop wall of the' guide Z, see,Figu're 1, andthe end of -theslot acts as a stop for limiting further clockwise rm A tationof the arm when itis moved a slight disn tance beyond a substantially vertical position '5 with respect to the support. If desired, the support may be provided with roughened areas I2 that will cooperate with roughened surfaces on the undersides of the clamps. This will increase the gripping effect of the device on a notebook or a page of a sidewise opening book.

Figures 1 and 2 show the device as applied to a sidewise opening book. A cardboard I3 or other page-supporting member is placed under a page M of the book I5, care beingtaken that one edge of the cardboard is placed adjacent to the bound edge of the page. The support I is now placed under the cardboard and the clamps 4 are moved into engagement with the page for clamping it and the cardboard to the support. The page and cardboard are preferably held. at right angles to the supporting surface during, the clamping, operation, the supporting surface being indicated by the numeral I 6. Thereafter the device'and page are allowed to swing into the position shown in Figure 2. This will pull the page taut over the cardboard and hold it flat for easy reading.

In Figures 1 and 2 I also show rubber vacuum cups I'I attached to the member I and adjustable to act as spacing members for inclining the page I4 in the manner shown. The reading of the page will be greatly facilitated when the page is inclined. The cups rest on the next page in the book. I Will describe hereinafter how the cups will secure the device to a supporting surface as illustrated in Figure 3.

The device has a line indicator, which is slidable along the guide bar 2. The line indicator comprises a sleeve I8 that is slidab-ly mounted on the guide 2. Figure 6 shows the sleeve as extending around four sides of the guide. The sleeve carries a leaf spring (not shown) that frictionally engages with one side of the guide bar. A handle I9 is provided for the sleeve and an arm 29 pivots about the handle and carries a line indicating member 2!. The latter has an extension 22 that constitutes a handle and permits the member 2| to be moved from line to' line along the page.

The sleeve has a graduated scale 23, which is slidable in slots formed in brackets, and a leaf spring 24 holds the scale in adjusted position. The scale aids the typist in spacing the page being typed in exactly the same manner as thepage being copied.

Figure 3 shows the device attached to a notebook cover 25. The support I and clamps 4 secure the device to the cover and the vacuum cups I! will lift the device above the supporting surface I6 so that the notebook will be inclined in the manner shown. An end view of the notebook is shown and it is in open position so that the topcoveris not viewable. The device has two vacuum cups and these will anchor the device to the supporting surface and will tilt one entire side of the notebook. This inclining of the page being copied aids the typist in transcribing the notes. The line indicator is slidable over the top of the page as illustrated. In Figures 1 and 2 I show the device attached tothe right-hand page of a book. It is possible to attach it to the left-hand page by merely inverting the device. In this instance, the handle So will be at the upper left-hand corner of the page rather than .at the lower righthand corner. The clamps 4 prevent the guide from moving longitudinally when the device is secured to a page. It is possibleto unscrew the cups II from the member I, if desired.

Figure 1 shows the clamps 4 short in length and therefore they will not extend beyond the margin on the page being copied. The device may be clamped to any free edge of a page. If the cardboard is not used, the page will rest directly on the support I and the support will prevent the page from sagging between the clamps. The handle 90. will swing slightly beyond dead center before coming to a stop against the end of the slot II. This will prevent the clamps from becoming unfastened accidentally.

The scale 23 may act as an additional line indicator and in fact may cooperate with the line indicator 2I to bound both top and bottom of the portion of the page being copied. The indicator 2| can accommodate itself to various number of pages because the arm 20 swings about the handle. I9 and the. indicator can be raised or lowered with respect to the guide bar 2.

I claim: 7

1. In a deviceof the type described, a supporting member, a hollow bar integral with the mem: ber and being rectangular in cross-section, said bar extending along one edge of the member and having its lower wall forming an extension of the member and lying in the same plane, the side wall disposed nearest the member having a recess therein and the opposite parallel wall having a slot therein, a clip having an end fulcrumed in the slot and its other end extending through the recess, said clip having a shoulder bearing against the recessed wall for holding the clip to the bar, a rod disposed between the clip and the top Wall of the bar, said rod having an off-set portion positioned above the clip and normally lying in a plane parallel to the plane of the clip, a tongue carried by the clip and bearing against the off-set portion for'holding the rod against the recessed wall, and a spring for yieldingly holding the clip against the rod, said rod being rockable for causing the off-set portion to swing the clip toward the supporting member for gripping a page or the like therebetween.

2. In a device of the type described, a supporting member and a hollow bar formed from a single piece of material, thebar being disposed along one side of the member and being rectangular in cross-section with its lower wall continuous with the member, the side wall of the bar adjacent the member being recessed at a plurality of places and the opposite parallel side wall being slotted, clips fulcrumed in the slots and being swingably received in the recesses, a rod having an off-set overlying each clip, a spring for holding each clip against the rod, said rod having a handle swingable for rocking the rod and moving the offsets against the clips for swinging the clips toward the member.

3. In a device of the type described, a supporting member and a hollow bar formed from a single piece of material, the bar being disposed along one side of the member and being rectangular in cross-section with its lower wall continuous with the member, the side wall of the bar disposed nearest the member being recessed at a plurality of places and the opposite parallel side wall being slotted, clips fulcrumed in the slots and being swingably received in the recesses, a rod having an off-set overlying each clip, a spring for holding each clip against the rod, said rod having a handle swingable for rocking the rod and moving the off-sets against the clips for swinging the clips toward the member, the contacting surfaces of the clips and members'being serrated for more positively gripping an object therebetween.

4. In combination, a supporting member for receiving material to be clamped, a housing extending along the member, clamps made to overlie the material and having portions receivable in the housing, spring means mounted in the housing for moving the clamps away fromthe supporting member to face the material, and a rotatable rod having off-set portions for moving the clamps toward the supporting member to clamp the material to the latter.

5. In a device of the type described, a supporting member having a hollow bar integral therewith, said bar having two parallel walls,

one wall being provided with a recess and the other with a slot, a clip having an end fulorumed in the slot and its other end extending through the recess, said clip having a shoulder bearing against the recessed wall for holding the clip to the bar, a rod disposed between the clip and the interior surface of the hollow bar, said rod having an offset portion positioned above the clip and normally lying in a plane parallel to the plane of the clip, and a spring for yieldingly holding the clip against the rod, said rod being rockable for causing the oifset portion to swing the clip toward the supporting member for gripping a page or the like therebetween.

6. In a device of the type described, a supporting member, a hollow bar disposed along one side of the member, said bar being recessed at a plurality of places and also being provided with slots that are aligned with the recesses, clips fulorumed in the slots and being swingably received in the recesses, a rod having an ofiset overlying each clip, a spring for holding each clip against the rod, said rod having a handle swingable for rocking the rod and moving the ofisets against the clips for swinging the clips toward the member.

BONNIE E, VAN ALSTYNE. 

